University of North Carolina Athletics
Mick: The Great Buntino Won't Strike Out
October 24, 2002 | Football
Oct. 24, 2002
Tar Heel Monthly is the premier magazine devoted to the stories and personalities behind UNC athletics. Click here for subscription information.
The following is taken from the most recent issue of the magazine.
By Mick Mixon, Tar Heel Sports Network
With the bases loaded, two out and down three runs in the bottom of the 9th inning, it wasn't looking too good for the Carolina Athletic Department in the fall of 2000. All Stars Dean Smith, John Swofford, Mack Brown, Paul Hardin and Michael Hooker were no longer in the lineup and top draft choices Roy Williams and Frank Beamer were no-shows.
The home crowd, sensing a loss of Tar Heel momentum, was growing restless. But then came the mighty John Stephen Bunting. When he stepped out of the dugout and into the on-deck circle in December of that year, fans began scrambling for their programs to see who this new pinch-hitter was and from where he came.
Big and brawny and with the swagger of a champion, The Great Buntino proudly stepped to the plate, pushed his sleeves up his ample biceps and promptly went to work, clouting pitches out of the ballpark and generally saving the day.
Do you realize how fortunate UNC is to have John Bunting in the big office on the 4th floor? That Carolina rebounded from an 0-3 start to win 8 of their last 10 games last season was impressive enough, but this remarkable Paul Bunyonesque character went undefeated behind the scenes. How?
*** First of all, his FOXHOLE FACTOR is off the charts high. What is your Foxhole Factor? That is the total number of people who want you with them in a crisis. Legions of Bunting's teammates, co-workers and current and former players all speak with eloquence and passion about how they would blindly follow him anywhere, confident in his courage, leadership and in his ability to think.
*** Next, he has STAR QUALITY. His Carolina blue eyes don't dart about the room looking to see who else needs to be chatted up. No, when he is talking with you he is talking with YOU, and his energy is contagious. There is the voice that sounds like a DeWalt power tool, there are the waving, gesturing hands, the quick smile and the bellowing laugh. There isn't any fine print that needs to be examined with him and there are no hidden clauses or loopholes. Void of even one single phony cell in his body, John Bunting is a real person, period.
*** Further, he is all day CONFIDENT in his abilities and isn't afraid to pull a starter, make a coaching change or recruit the best players.
*** And he is DEDICATED. Want to get him riled? Want to wave a red cape across his horns? Okay then, offer up an excuse as to why a goal can't be accomplished. Slough off. Be late. Break the rules. Do the minimum. Shy away.
*** The guy is also A TOTAL ORIGINAL. He speaks fluent football but joyously, he hasn't yet learned the syntax of "the press conference." Or perhaps he simply prefers the open country of honest communication to the safe cover of the clich?. Either way, reporters both respect and enjoy him and that is a rare grand slam home run for the program.
By the way, during the open date week, he went to a Rolling Stones concert in Philadelphia. Imagine that.
*** HONEST? You bet. John Bunting doesn't just follow the rules to the best of his ability, he follows the rules. He doesn't want any medals for it. That is just the way he does business.
*** The Great Buntino is also AN INNOVATOR. If you have never been to an Old Well Walk, get to one. Buses let the team off at the Old Well and the players and coaches walk to Kenan Stadium through a corridor of fans and the band at Tar Heel Town. Often, a key recruit or two will be along side Coach Bunting during the walk. Is it more work to do it that way? Of course. Would it be easier just to have the buses take the players right to the stadium? Sure. But whoever got chill bumps of excitement breathing in diesel exhaust watching buses go by?
*** If you could be at just one practice and hear him talk with the team afterwards, your personal productivity in your own job would probably increase 20 percent. That is the type of MOTIVATOR he is. Forget for a moment about painful losses to Miami of Ohio and Georgia Tech, because his 2002 squad is fighting through an obvious rebuilding trough. Through the John Bunting era, you can trust that Carolina will win games they shouldn't have won because of his singular ability as a psychologist.
*** And it is comforting to know this isn't a stepping stone job for him, it is his DREAM JOB. When the wins start to pile up, and they will, Carolina won't have to worry about losing him to more of a "football school." To Coach Bunting, he's already at a football school.
So if the outlook isn't brilliant for the Tar Heel Eleven this year, just remember that the big-picture measure of a coach is in the optimism he inspires. And with John Bunting at the plate, Carolina won't strike out.
Born and raised in Chapel Hill, Mick Mixon joined the Tar Heel Sports Network in 1989 and has served alongside Woody Durham on radio broadcasts of men's basketball and football games ever since as a color analyst.
